Imax expands partnership in China with four-theater deal

MUMBAI: Imax Corporation and Jiangsu Eudemonia Blue Ocean Cinema Development Co., Ltd. have inked an agreement to install four new digital Imax theatre systems in the People’s Republic of China.

This agreement follows an earlier four-theatre deal between the two companies, announced in February 2011, and brings Blue Ocean’s total commitment to eight Imax theatres in operation by 2014.

Under terms of this agreement, Blue Ocean is scheduled to install a digital Imax theatre system at the Eudemonia Blue Ocean International Cineplex at the Songlei Department Store, located in Daqing, Heilongjiang Province, in early 2012. The remaining three systems are scheduled to open by 2014 at new complexes: the Renhe Spring International Plaza in Chengdu, Sichuan Province; the Central International Shopping Plaza in Suqian, and the Yurun Central International Plaza in Huai’an, both in Jiangsu Province. This agreement brings the total number of Imax theatres contracted to open in Greater China to 181, 48 of which are currently in operation.

"As more and more mainstream Chinese films and major Hollywood movies are being released in the immersive Imax format, the brand is in increasingly high demand with audiences in China. Today’s agreement will allow us to offer our audiences the best possible way to view event films," said Jiangsu Eudemonia Blue Ocean managing director Jiang Wenbo.

"Greater China is our second-largest market globally, behind North America, with some of our network’s highest-grossing Imax theatres in the world. With leading exhibitors such as Blue Ocean, we are building on this success and expanding our network to meet the increasing demand for The Imax Experience in China," said Imax CEO Richard L. Gelfond.